Odyssey 2.187 · Book 2, lines 187–191
A threat dressed as a prophecy
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ἀλλʼ ἔκ τοι ἐρέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται· αἴ κε νεώτερον ἄνδρα παλαιά τε πολλά τε εἰδὼς παρφάμενος ἐπέεσσιν ἐποτρύνῃς χαλεπαίνειν, αὐτῷ μέν οἱ πρῶτον ἀνιηρέστερον ἔσται, πρῆξαι δʼ ἔμπης οὔ τι δυνήσεται εἵνεκα τῶνδε·
But I speak out to you, and this too shall be fulfilled: if ever you, knowing many old things, beguiling with words a younger man, urge him to be harsh, first, for the man himself, it will be the more grievous, yet to accomplish anything he will nevertheless be unable, because of these things.
Word by word
The setting
Eurymachus turns from mocking the seer to warning him. He answers Halitherses's prophecy with a counter-'prophecy' of his own — really a threat — about what will happen if the old man incites the young Telemachus.
A note on this passage
Eurymachus borrows the seer's own diction. ‘I will speak out, and this too shall be fulfilled’ is the language of prophecy, but what he predicts is force: if Halitherses uses his words to push Telemachus toward anger, it will only rebound on the young man and gain nothing.
The move is to claim the future the way a prophet does. Halitherses foretold a homecoming from the gods; Eurymachus answers with a foretelling of his own, whose only warrant is the suitors' power to punish. The scene sets a true prophecy backed by Zeus against a false one backed by muscle, and lets them use the same solemn words — ‘it shall be brought to pass.’
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